POLL: After VOOM, who will be your provider?

[cohiba]

Voom spoiled me. I can hardly stand watching SD content anymore. I'm going to try OTA-only for a while, keeping my fingers crossed for someone to come along and pick up the pieces.

Voom-please don't pick up or kill the boxes! I will be here waiting when you return!!!!

 

[evo8man]

Well, today just signed for Comcast Silver plus promo for 29/month for 6months no contract and no hardware to buy thank god...with i believe 9 HD channels....I guess this should do it for me for now...

 

[GLBorchert]

Both . . .

I already had an E* feed, for the wife and kids who didn't want to switch to Voom and also so that we could use some non-HDTV DVR receivers and tv's we've got. But, for my viewing room I had D* (today) put their dish where the Voom dish was, and now have a D* H10 sitting where my Motorola DSR550 used to sit.

I've been with E* since 1997, more than 8 years now, and have been a fan of E* service. But, I've always wanted to make an honest, direct comparison for myself. Most of my guy friends have D* because of NFL Total Access, but beyond football, I've really wondered how they stack up.

So now I have my chance to find out.

Right off the bat I can say that - for what its worth - the D* H10 is superior to the E* 811. Easier to set up. Better HDTV options. Local (Off Air) channels seamlessly merged into the menu.

Though some people have said that E* has superior PQ, side by side they look the same to me.

 

[Dallasvoomer]

Indy, are you a car sales finance manager? Sounds like Ford Credit when I financed my Mustang GT. I went with Comcast here in Murphy/Plano since Voom will be doomed on May 1. They won't be able to get out till Tuesday though. I hope the OTA works on the Voom unit till then. I may have to go buy a HD set top box from Circuit City to hold my kids over till the install.

My costs are as follows:
HD Digital Premium channels for 12 months
$44.95
Comcast Cable modem service
$29.95 for 12 months

My current Voom prices are around $89/month
and the cable modem costs me about $53 month. This was a no brainer since I only have one HDTV Samsung. I will be purchasing another HDTV Samsung LCD within the summer, the price for my services will increase by only 5 bones. I do not have a DVR however.

 

[Booch_21]

I made the switch to D* last week. I was very pleased with Voom, as most of us were. I really was going to do a wait-and-see on who to go with next until the rebate offer came out. I really didn't want to purchase a receiver. Voom's lease option spoiled me. The Voom receiver went out on me and it was really great to call up and have the new one brought out and setup with no outlay of money. Once I heard about the D* rebate, I went to Best Buy and purchased the H10 receiver and dish and headed home. $99 after rebate was worth the risk. The only bad taste that I have gotten was from the install company, ironically the same company that put Voom in for me. They were all of a sudden unwilling to work with me on scheduling the install. So I said "to heck with it" and installed it myself.

My initial comment on the difference is that the PQ difference is very slight, if any. Some friends have seen the D* PQ and remarked that it is better than Voom. I don't know since I was watching far more than they were. The lack of current HD channels was a concern, but anything is better than none and the local Adelphia was not a personal option for me. I'd rather put up rabbit ears than give Adelphia any $$.

So far, I'm impressed with the D* service. I also added the receiver protection plan for $7.50/month. I made darn sure that it covers replacement if it should fail. It kicks in after 30 days, the standard warranty. Time will tell though. I have a year to figure that one out. I will miss Voom. I was with them since last August and rarely had service issues. It was a nice run while it was there for us.

 

[1080iBeVuMin]

I already posted in this thread why my system will go dark after Voom and I will not go to Dish or DirecTV or cable.

But I just realized the REAL reason I can't sign up for one of those services...

1080iBeDiShin ??
1080iBeDiRecTin ??
1080iBeComCasTin ??

Those user names just don't cut it!

1080iBeVuMin YEAH! :up :up

 

[ram1220]

I'm going back to DirecTv but am either going to sell my HDTV or put it in storage. I'll have SD on my 32" SD TV and will enjoy it without bitching about the PQ every night.
When HD finally grows up, then I'll be back.

 

[jellings9]

According to the "poll", it looks like most folks are jumping to cable...
I know the PQ varies by location, but I am pretty satisfied with the signal from comcast outside of Chicago..
Just one question; I have the Moto 6412, and the PQ is fine on the HD channels and the stuff that is "digital", but the lower, analog channels look pretty lousy. I have read in some cases, that if you split the cable signal, and run a line DIRECTLY into your tv for the lower analog channels, bypassing the HDDVR, you get a much better PQ on those analog channels.
Doesn't putting a "splitter" on make the PQ worse on the stuff coming out of the HDDVR, or is the loss not noticable?

There is some stuff on the lower channels that we watch, (cartoon Network, E channel, comedy Channel, etc) and the PQ is pretty awful on those channels..

I have experienced something similar. I have both component and composite cables going from my cable box (motorola DCT6200). It looked like I was getting a better picture for the analog channels when I watched them over the "antenna" input in 480i rather than watching them over the "component video" input in 480p. I was tired of switching inputs when going back and forth between analog and HD, so I'm sticking with the lower quality picture.

Again, this is just what I've experienced. If I'm doing something stupid or anyone has any advice, please let me know.

 

[victap]

Well, Voom went ou t last night. E* comes in today . It was good while it lasted. If Time Warner cable was in my area, I would have gone with them in a heart beat; but, we are stuck with comcast . I guess I'll see you guys in the E* forum.

Leave this world in a better condition than the one you found it.

 

[lilyarbie]

I'm planning on just regular analog cable.......

My dad doesn't want to spend out the money on Dish Network until they get their MPEG-4 technology receivers out there and ready. He doesn't want to buy anything and then have to buy another thing in six months. I don't blame him for that because that sounds like another way to make more money off of people just because they'll pay for it. As for now, we're just going to have crappy analog cable from our local Charter affiliate. Even overly compressed SD looks better than analog. Overly compressed SD doesn't look sharp and all, but it looks better than staticy analog cable that I have to turn my sharpness down half-way to get a decent picture on my analog television. With Voom, I've got the sharpness jacked all the way up and it looks outstanding. Digital or HD cable isn't an option here. The only digital cable boxes they carry are some old Motorola receivers. The highest quality output they have is composite. Wow! I'm watching channels with resolutions of 720x480 and can only get 300 lines of it! What a bunch of crap! There is a space labeled S-video, but there is no connection there. On Motorola's website and manual on the receiver, it states "S-video will be an add-on for this receiver in the future." Well, it's been 5+ years since they first started using it and no add-on. Hopefully, Voom will allow us to keep our receivers for OTA function. I love watching my locals in digital quality. Other than watching analog, which I probably won't do much of due to it crappy quality, I'll probably start catching up on watching my dvd boxsets that I received for Christmas. I haven't had much time to watch these due to watching too much satellite television. Bring out the 3 seasons of Seinfield and the last 11 episodes of BMW season 2 that I haven't watched. Oh, and don't forget about my Alf 1 boxset. I love that alien puppet! I also gotta get season 3 of Quantum Leap. I love that show with a passion. So, I guess this will all be my plans in the mean time.

 

[johnalan]

DISH = VOOM (for the most part).
The choice, for me, is obviously already made!

 

[bookwalk]

Nps

 

[gross67]

NOW THAT VOOM 10 WILL BE CARRIED, THIS POLL SHOULD BE TAKEN AGAIN - AND THEN AGAIN IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS. I FOR ONE WILL WAIT TO SEE HOW THE "VOOM ON DISH" PLAN WORKS OUT. AND I REALLY LIKED WORLD SPORT - ENOUGH TO WAIT UNTIL DISH CARRIES IT. WHO KNOWS, VOOM MAY COME TO CABLE IN A MONTH OR SO.

Cheers,

James (I wasn't Yelling with my all Caps - just wanted to get your attention.)

 

[James Long]

Good idea

See here

JL